BRIEFING: RELIGION

BRIEFING: RELIGION; VIRGIN MARY IN A TREE STUMP

By Jonathan Miller

Published: November 9, 2003

For several weeks, thousands of people have been making pilgrimages to a tree stump in a vacant lot in Passaic that they believe has taken the form of the Virgin Mary. Some attribute supernatural powers to the stump, including healing chest pain and stopping arguments between couples. The image on the three-foot-high stump was apparently created accidentally in August when teenage workers were clearing trees near Route 21. A spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson said that the church would investigate the matter to determine whether the hand of God had a role in creating the stump. ''I thought it looked like a parrot, myself,'' said the spokeswoman, Marianna Thompson. Nonetheless, she said the diocese would not discourage people from visiting the stump. ''There's no harm worshipping the mother of God,'' she said. Jonathan Miller